U.S. Federal Appeals Court Upholds Trump's 10% Global Tariff | WPN World People News

On the 11th, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled to lift an injunction previously issued by the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT), allowing the government to continue collecting the 10% global tariff while litigation remains ongoing. The appeals court found that suspending the tariff at this stage would cause irreparable harm to the federal government and indicated that the CIT may have erred in its interpretation of the law.

Looking back to February 20, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6–3 decision in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, held that the government could not use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs. In response, President Trump immediately invoked Section 122 of the Trade Act, a provision addressing international balance-of-payments deficits, to reimpose a 10% tariff on imports from around the world. Earlier, on May 7, the CIT had ruled that the 10% global surcharge imposed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 exceeded the president’s statutory authority.

In its latest decision, the appeals court accepted the Trump administration’s argument that the United States’ large and persistent trade deficit constitutes a “balance-of-payments problem” as described in the statute. The court concluded that the government had sufficiently demonstrated the legal merits of its position. The ruling is widely viewed as a significant victory for the executive branch in its ongoing legal battles over trade policy. The administration also emphasized that the decision reinforces executive authority to manage trade during national emergencies.

As a result, importers—including the State of Washington and private companies such as Burlap & Barrel and Basic Fun—must resume paying the surcharge. Under Section 122, the emergency tariff may remain in effect for up to 150 days unless Congress approves an extension. Without such approval, it is expected to expire on July 24.